Bangalore Burning

I have not been keeping well, well there is nothing new to that, I have cribbed about it enough. So this is a long weekend and I am stuck at home. Yesterday was a very very dry day. It was Bangalore Bandh and hooligans had taken over the streets. It was a sad occasion for it was the day Destiny had chosen for Dr. Rajkumar to pass over, and it was a day the crowds had chosen to go berserk.

Were they really fans?? What was the violence about ??? Did they get violent because they were just too many and the arrangement made to pay last tributes to their Hero were non-existent (I think the authorities had not considered such a big turnout). Or was there an element of Mob psychology playing its part.

The visuals on the screen were of helpless Policemen being cornered and beaten up. The faces in the crowd were not really grief stricken, they were enjoying their 5 minutes on Glory in front of the camera. Why do mobs react in this way? I don't have any answers, but I am deeply bothered by it.

One of my first experience on mob mentality is from College days, One fine day in first year, we came to know that some guys from our batch had a tiff of sorts with a tailor in a shopping complex. The shopping house had a Hotel, was Hotel Pisal. So in the evening, instigated by some old goons from our college, the guys pelted stones and broke the glasses of some of the shops. The guys on the other side retaliated and some 4-5 guys were apprehended by the Police (not all of them were actually part of the mob that went berserk). We spent that night outside the TT Nagar Police station requesting for the release of our guys. Nothing happened. after about 2-3 days it was decided to stage a protest at Roshanpura Square, This was to put pressure on the Hotel Pisal and shopping complex proprietors to take back the cases they had lodged against the students.

It went on fine for sometime, there was heavy presence of police, and the scene was a bit tense. This was my first such demonstration. All of a sudden some guys started teasing girls who were part of traffic. After some time police resorted to mild Lathi charge and dispersed the students. I for one don't blame police at all for what happened.

Not all the guys present there were actually there for a cause, they were there because they were expected to be there. Noting more than that.

I would like to add the fact that I was grossly disappointed that I was not present when the stone pelting happened, because I was one of the first to go to the scene and take account of how we can beat up the concerned guys. But my approach was different, I wanted a SWAT like attack on the premises and not something unplanned. (the way it finally happened). And i would have objected to police lathicharge and even fought for a cause (which now looks stupid), if it was not for these few stupid guys who started a chain reaction of sorts. Imagine how stupid they have to be to start teasing girls in front of such a big police gathering.

 

Second experience that took my faith away from the mob way of dealing with things happened in second year. A good friend of mine committed suicide, now why he did that is something I will never understand. Anyway in his suicide note he took names of a few students and few profs. See the issue was that this guy was expelled from college for ragging, but he maintained that he was not alone ragging the freshers, he was supposed to be back on the rolls in 2 months time when he decided to take the drastic step after his appeal for mercy didn't find favour with the faculty. All he had to do was wait for some more time. But I guess when one is desperate, reasoning does gets foggy.

College authorities provided for a bus to take his body to his hometown and about 30-40 students accompanied his body.

I did not go, for by that time I was on loggerheads with my whole batch, I was supposed to be ostracized by my whole batch back then.

After the cremation when these guys were returning, they acted like an unruly and stupid college crowd would. They laughed and made merry as if they were returning from a fun trip.

All this while I was busy making sure that the college came to a halt, we went and got everything shutdown. the whole student community assembled at the SAC (student activity centre) and we wept and gave fiery speeches. Finally the guys who had accompanied Pardhi on his final journey came back and we decided to observe a running hunger strike till our demands are met (we had asked for suspension of the concerned profs and a few more things that I don't remember now)

I really felt for the guy, though if I really reason, I don't think he was justified in what he did, but anyway a friend is a friend, so I took special permission from the so called leaders of our batch to observe the token fast.

It was quite hot those days and i sat there for close to 8 hours without food and water. But I think it was a waste. The pandal where the fasting was happening was more of a meeting ground for girls and guys. I mean by evening they had started playing antakshri, to me this was unacceptable. I mean what the hell the guy is not even dead for a week and this is the integrity these folks choose to show, the solidarity that they talked about was just a fib, nothing else.

That was the last time I ever considered being part of a big group, that was the last time I believed in people's revolution.

 

coming back to the question of Hooliganism on Bangalore streets, It was a shame to watch my beloved city burn, I think it goes to show how depraved we have become as a society, perhaps it is the angst of a perverse society, that has had enough of authority, enough of bureaucracy and enough of all other bullshit, that comes out as Hooliganism, the hooliganism we witnessed on the roads of Bangalore

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~asto' ma sat gamaya